Town may restore parking clerk position

BY PATRICIA ROY SPECIAL TO THE LANDMARK

Parking enforcement in town needs to be tightened up and reinstating the position of parking clerk would be a good first step in getting things back under control, Troy Chauvin, president of Local 339 of the Massachusetts Coalition of Police, told selectmen at their Nov. 16 meeting.

“Parking is a huge problem at the Little League Field and the Naquag and Central Tree school area. Cars are parking on both sides of the road,” he said.

Chauvin said parking fines range from zero to $5 for a third offense. The Police Department has no way to enforce fines for unauthorized parking in handicapped spaces or fire lanes; while the winter parking ban is in effect, cars can be towed, but that is the only time they are, he said.

Selectman Joseph Becker was concerned about the public’s perception of the parking clerk.

“I don’t want to see this construed as a revenuegenerating issue,” he said. “It’s more a ‘follow the rules’ issue.”

A parking clerk would set fines and oversee the appeals process. Typically, the clerk would set hearings for appeals four times a year. The revenue from the fines would be used to pay the clerk, Chauvin said.

The only other cost of the parking clerk would be paying for an officer’s time in court if the clerk’s decisions are appealed to a judge.

“I don’t envision a lot of that,” Chauvin said.

Rutland established the position of parking clerk in 1985, he said, but since then it has fallen to the wayside. There is only $123 in the budget to fund the position.

The clerk would be part of the Police Department; parking fines would be non-criminal offenses. Parking offenders who do not contest their tickets could pay them by mail or in person at the police station.

The board instructed Chauvin to write a job description for the position.